The last time I saw Maestro Sakamoto @skmtgram was at Germano Studios right before the lockdown. He was in the middle of mixing a score and I was in the middle of a major studio build out and I wanted to return some very valuable BTTB DAT tapes back to his team. He happened to be mid break and I walked in sat for a few minutes. We talked about my build out and just how stressed I was…he was so kind and gave me a wonderful pep talk I needed. Then I left to head back to construction to deal with fabric panels or an electrician or something. It was a lovely summer day, little did I know this was the last time I would see him. I have worked on so many of his releases but I must say remastering Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence takes the cake. It’s not just because it’s his inaugural score and acting debut as Capt Yonoi alongside David Bowie, or his beautiful collaboration with David Sylvian….its the pivotal importance of this score in the world of film. This is the first score that came into my awareness as something bigger than the film itself. It’s the first time a piece of film music cannot be separated from the visual. It supersedes and takes a life of its own thanks to his massive gift for music. A genius in the truest sense. Anytime I think of Ryuichi, I feel overcome with grief…but then I remember the vault of treasures he left us and how lucky I am I came into his orbit. So honoured to work on this extremely important piece of music from original tapes. Remastered by me and available on 180gram vinyl Vinyl cut by Ueda at Toyo Kasei Preorder available now Big thanks to Alec Fellman, Maria Takeuchi and of course Norika Sora